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Articles in Rural pedestrian environments are associated with a greater fatality risk than urban pedestrian environments.
Many rural areas lack pedestrian facilities such as sidewalks, paths, and/or shoulders.
Pedsafe. Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System. Available at: http://www.walkinginfo.org/pedsafe/crashstats.cfm
Most pedestrian fatalities that occur in rural areas as a result of being hit by a car occur on collector and local roads. Very few of those fatalities occur on highways; this may be because there are more pedestrians on collector and local roads than on highways.
Federal Highway Administration, 2000. Speeding in Rural Areas.
While there are more pedestrian/auto accidents in urban areas simply because there are more people and more cars, the risk of fatality in a rural area is double or even triple the rate in urban areas (depending on what type of road the crash occurs). One reason is that motor vehicles tend to travel faster in rural areas.
World Health Organization (WHO), Edited by Margie Penden, Richard Scurfield, David Sleet, et al. World Report on road traffic injury prevention, 2004.
Federal Highway Administration, 2000. Speeding in Rural Areas.
Pedsafe. Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System. Available at: http://www.walkinginfo.org/pedsafe/crashstats.cfm
Levine, N, Kim, K, and Nitz, L. Spatial analysis of Honolulu motor vehicle crashes: I. Spatial patterns. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 1995; 27 (5): 663.